NBA Rumors

Five Trades To Shake Up NBA? Give Us Yours, Too

December 5, 2021

It’s nearing trade season in the NBA (does it ever really end?), with the deadline to make a deal now about two months away.

So it’s only fitting that ESPN posted an insider-only piece that projected “Five big trades that could shake up the NBA playoff picture.”

At the risk of ticking off whoever receives the insider money, here are the proposed trades:

1. Pacers power forward Domantas Sabonis to the Warriors for center James Wiseman, rookie forward Jonathan Kuminga and rookie guard Moses Moody.

2. Kings small forward Harrison Barnes and center Marvin Bagley III to the Mavericks for guard/forward Tim Hardaway Jr., power forward Dorian Finney-Smith, center Willie Cauley-Stein, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick.

3. Spurs forward Thaddeus Young to the Suns for forward Dario Saric, center Jalen Smith and a 2024 top-eight protected first-rounder and a 2025 second-rounder.

4. Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington to the Kings for Bagley and a 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected, converts into 2022 Kings second-round pick and return of the Blazers’ second-rounders in 2024 and 2025).

5. Blazers forward Larry Nance Jr. to the Timberwolves for small forwards Josh Okogie and Jake Layman.

Of all those deals, the only one I’d love is Young going to the Suns, who could bolster their frontcourt for next to nothing. Plus, he seemingly is not enjoying his stint with the Spurs, so they may as well see what they could get for him.

I do also like the idea of Nance to the Timberwolves to pair with Karl-Anthony Towns in the frontcourt. As ESPN noted, the Wolves have made the playoffs once since Kevin Garnett initially left like 100 years ago. May as well shake up the roster around Towns.

Anyway, that’s just ESPN’s take. The purpose of this post is to see what trades YOU would make if you were the general manager of your favorite team … or every team, whatever you’d like.

See a deal out there that needs to be made? Let us know in the comments section below. We very much look forward to reading (and potentially running) every last one.